There is no way YSU is ever getting in because all the MAC schools not from Ohio would block it. Those schools all feel their is too much control of the MAC by Ohio schools. The idea of expansion is to widen your TV coverage while keeping some geographic closeness.
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I think you are overestimating their crowd. They do bring great numbers to frisco and when they play Minnesota or Iowa. But we bring great numbers to chicago
Last year from what i could tell crowds ranged from 7800 to 18500 in the 18700 seat kibbie dome. I am not an expert in the fargo dome but a lot of the crowds were in the 14k area- which seemed short of a sellout.
I always thought Montana was the school that had the huge crowds (like 28k)
Regardless we may find out soon enough how good these schools are if the big ten and sec have their way
Neither Kent nor Akron would support MAC admission for Youngstown that would bring a third Northeast Ohio school into their modest shared market.
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If Iām hearing you right, it sounds like we agree to agreeā¦!
Montana has easily the best FCS atmosphere at home and arguably travels the best as well. My wife is an alum and as much as I love Miami football, there is no comparison in fan bases.
And Iām going to Pearl Jam at Washington Grizzly (again) this summer. Cmon Yagerā¦ā¦ 
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The travel would SUCK.
The Kibbie Dome is in Moscow. NDSUās home crowds in the Fargo Dome the past seven years would cast a shadow over every MAC teamās local support. The lone exceptions might be Ohio or Toledo but I doubt even those two surpass NDSU in % of seats filled.
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FargoDome seats 19K.
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The reason they have few FBS wins over that timeframe is because FBS teams started refusing to play them. From 2010-2016 they won 6 straight games against FBS opponents. 5 of those wins were against power conference opponents, 3 of those wins were by multiple possessions, and 2 of those wins were against defending Big 12 champion Kansas St and top 15 ranked Iowa. What MAC team could put together a run like that?
They didnāt get to play another FBS game until 2022, when they should have beaten a decent Arizona team, but had a late collapse and ended up losing a heartbreaker by 3. Theyāve fallen off a bit since Klieman left for Kansas St and Trey Lance left early for the draft, but they could walk into the MAC and be an immediate contender. South Dakota St could join the MAC and immediately be overwhelming favorites to win the conference.
Iād be opposed to adding NDSU or SDSU from a geographic perspective, but to act like they wouldnāt dramatically lift the athletic quality of the conference is delusional.
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Guy, I never said they would lift anything. I think they are not a great add which is why I said Youngstown St offered more for me personally. Namely because the fountain of youth is located there. I was simply reacting to the notion NDSU is unbeatable and I say nay, they are beatable. But, they are good.
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The Jackrabbits have become a juggernaut over the past few seasons. If they joined the MAC with WKU weād have two teams that use Wave the Flag as their fight song, two teams that use Stand up and Cheer and two teams located in Bowling Green. That would be weird.
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Weād beat WKU on the fact that they lifted their mascot from McDonalds. I see you derelict Grimace. The red color only fooled the lazy.
True Story too!
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Yes Fargo dome. But what am I missing. They are announcing crowds of 14,000 in a 19,000 seat stadium. Their playoff game had 7,800. I have never been there or watched a game but that doesnt seem like a bigger than MAC level crowd
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This was a bit of a down year for them. They didnāt go to Frisco for the Natty. But theyve been filling the place on a regular basis the past few years. The vibe has been so intense there that College GameDay has been there twice.
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IIRC attendance for FCS playoff games is usually pretty lousy since itās freezing outside (exception for dome teams like NDSU), the host schools have to charge a minimum amount per ticket so they canāt promote with dirt cheap pricing (I think itās an NCAA requirement), and itās scheduled not very far in advance so people are likelier to have conflicts.
Regardless, even if NDSUās quality on the field doesnāt skip a beat in FBS and they immediately dominated the MAC Iām skeptical that theyāll sell out for weeknight games against Ball State and Akron.
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Thatās a really āhigh barā to sell out a weeknight MACtion gameā¦they are attendance destroyers.
A few years back when most of the weeknight games were on Thursday we had some decent crowds, and of course the occasional game between contenders would draw. But Tuesday and Wednesday games are brutalā¦makes me wonder if those ādeadā stadiums and resultant game day atmosphere are yet another reason good players portal out.
Nobody anywhere is selling out for midweek games.
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First round is played the Saturday after Thanksgiving. I donāt know if any games outside of the major FBS rivalry games do well for attendance that weekend.
The vast majority of our weeknight games have been on Tuesday and Wednesday, even going back to the Ben years.
And I have to think that recruits know that theyāll be playing in front of small crowds in the middle of the week, but are sold on the point of being exclusively shown on ESPN/ESPN2.
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